


Melt

by SpareTimeEntertainment



Category: Kingdom Hearts
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-02-12
Updated: 2017-02-12
Packaged: 2018-09-23 19:14:52
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Underage
Chapters: 1
Words: 15,634
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9672392
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SpareTimeEntertainment/pseuds/SpareTimeEntertainment
Summary: It seems impossible. Sora and Riku are home, safe, plucked out of darkness at the last moment by Kairi's letter between the worlds. Despite their joyous return, however, not all concerns were left behind. Sora's heart, frozen with worry for everything he holds dear, needs reassurance - and there is only one who can thaw it out.Only she can.Spare Time Entertainment proudly presents a story of trust. A paean for intimacy, and healing, and love given form. Hearts collide and destinies entwine, in...MELT





	

SPARE TIME ENTERTAINMENT PRESENTS

MELT

A KINGDOM HEARTS SHORT STORY

 

\--

 

One light shone from the shore.

One lone lantern that promised safety until dawn.

Then two, then three, then enough for a sanctuary born.

It was a sunset of returns. The tranquil silence of a beach after dark, usually so stricken down by the vast invisibility of night, was on this evening host to a small party to celebrate the end of a journey long-awaited.

A star, trailed by a thin line of celestial momentum, streaked through the night sky. Its transit from one side of the horizon to the other took only a brief moment, however its passing was noticed by a pair of eyes – eyes that once watched with the spark of inquisitiveness, and were now distracted by the process of reflection. The Keybearer Sora watched this beacon in flight as it vanished from view, its perennial motion reminding him once again of the worlds beyond this quiet shoreline. Places and people whose lives had become intertwined with Sora’s, whose presences among the stars were connected by the trails he had left in his own transit across the night sky.

“Sora,” came a voice from his side. His heart fluttered at the sound of it, and he turned to behold his childhood friend Kairi, her soft features half-lit by the rich orange illumination of the nearby lanterns.

He struggled to accept her appearance again, breath drawing short and gaze rife with disbelief that she was here. It was not her presence in this place that unnerved him – that was natural. This was the Destiny Islands, after all. Her home. Their home. That she would still be here, of all places, was a hope Sora had always clung to in the darkest moments of his voyage. But now that he was home also, and she was here in front of him, no longer existing merely as an idyllic hope for a peaceful future…

Well, Sora was nervous. There were so many things he wanted to say to her, desperately and fervently, that he found he couldn’t say any of them at all. The gravity of her presence weighed heavy in his stomach, settling among barbeque and ice-cream and the other eternal favourites of the ideal beach party.

“K-Kairi!” He sputtered, straightening up. She was close enough for him to hear the small, chirping inflections in her voice, unique to how she talked to him. It was as though her heartrate spiked when she got the chance to address him; a feeling which the brunet boy could relate to.

“What’s this, sitting out your own welcome home party?” she encouraged him with an ebullient smile.

“I, ah…” Sora turned back to look at the party. It was a small affair, with Riku and the King laughing as Donald, having finally found a flavour of ice cream he enjoyed, learned the lesson of brain freeze. “Yeah, I guess… it’s just weird being back home, you know?” he forced out a chuckle, running a hand down his neck sheepishly. “I mean, sure, it’s great to be back. I just…”

“Just…?” Kairi encouraged, hanging on his words.

“I think I just need a bit of time to get used to it,” the boy said, feeling heat creep into his cheeks. “I just find myself thinking, ‘where are we headed to next?’ like this is just another problem we have to solve.”

“Well, the only problem right now,” Kairi giggled, “is that you haven’t had nearly enough cake for this to count as a proper welcome home!”

With a smile, Sora let himself be guided by his hands back to the party proper, where his friends waited for him eagerly. The reassuring sounds of Donald and Goofy’s laughter, benign in their familiarity, made him happy as Riku handed him a rather large portion of chocolate cake.

“Think you’re up to it?” The calm tone of his best friend as the specimen of a slice landed in his hand was uncharacteristically lighthearted, and Sora noticed with a glance that the smile on Riku’s face was undeniably genuine. Sora understood why; after everything Riku had done to ensure they made it out okay, returning to the Islands – just as they were when he left them – must have eased his once-troubled conscience.

Kairi giggled again, and again like clockwork his nerves were set alight. A smiling Riku, the sand underneath his bare feet, the gentle caress of the waves as it passed between his toes and receded evermore into the surf, Kairi’s voice, her eyes… all these were things his heart insisted were scarce. Precious things, to be fought for and protected, to be enjoyed after the battle was over.

But the battle was over, wasn’t it? Taking in this flurry of cherished sensations, once so fleeting, now so abundant and disposable, Sora felt yet more enigmas. Ciphered feelings he could not decode as they flowed out from the overfull cup of his heart and weighed him down further in his belly. The deep unease centred there suddenly had the cake looking very unappetising indeed.

“Aw, he’ll be back for more in no time!”

“Yeah! You just watch him go!”

Even Donald’s and Goofy’s friendly vote of confidence did little to assuage the complexities raging within the boy. But as Sora looked up, and found all eyes on him, he was able to identify still the look of eyes that needed him, in this moment, to reassure them in kind. That everything was alright. That there wasn’t a thing to worry about.

“No sweat!” Sora exclaimed, throwing on his smile with the customary ease. “You just watch! I’ll be done with this in no time!” he took the silver spoon offered to him by Kairi and, to much laughter and appreciation, began to eat the chocolate treat in large, convincing gulps.

\--

Eventually, the warmth of the dwindling fire failed to provide sufficient succour from the breeze of true nightfall that swept in from the ocean, and so the implements of the party were hastily packed away. Talk became a rarity as, task by task, the beach was left to its usual pristine-ness. Their companions were the first to say goodnight, the captain of the guard, the court magician and the king himself returning to the Gummi Ship with smiling faces. Sora had to stop himself from following them, the return to the vessel long part of his daily routine. It was only as Riku threw an arm around his shoulder while waving to the trio that Sora realised his proverbial anchor had been laid – his feet secured to solid ground.

The boat back across the gentle, lapping waves of the ocean at night was traditionally breathtaking, the open canopy of the night sky reflected in all its multitudes on the black glass of the water’s surface. Sora and Riku rowed in silence, the creaking of the hull sounding in rhythmic tandem with the lapping of the ocean waves. As they had set off Kairi had been determined not to let Sora at the oars, insisting he relax. He had brushed this off with his customary laugh, insisting that she leave it to him – truth be told, the muscles in his arm were tensed. After the duration of his long journey, to go more than a few hours without summoning the Keyblade had him on edge, and the repetitive motion gave his stiffened muscles something to occupy themselves with.

It took only minutes for the craft to beach itself against the shoreline of the main island. The three caught a last look of the evening at the smaller islet from which they had sailed; the precious place which had nourished their friendship sat, small and dark and vulnerable, against the endless black of the night horizon. Digging their heels into the beach of the larger isle which was home to them all, all three teenagers pulled the wooden rowboat onto the sand and secured it there, the motion familiar even after more than a year’s absence.

“It’s good, isn’t it?” Riku sighed as they set off down the path would which lead them back to their homes. “Finally being back?”

Kairi took the chance to laugh at her friend briefly. “Is this the same Riku I knew?” she chuckled. “I remember you wanting nothing less than to stay here!”

The taller boy nudged her gently on the shoulder, laughing playfully. “I couldn’t keep wandering around and leave you two saps to stay here forever. Besides, everyone needs to hit the beach once in a while.”

Kairi threw another giggle and turned to Sora, whose eyes were glazed over as he walked. “And what about you? Don’t go snoozing on us!”

“…Oh!” Sora snapped to attention, and tapped himself on the head apologetically. “I’m sorry. I can’t focus. I just can’t believe we’re back.” He stared from Riku, to Kairi, and then around at the familiar sights of home. “It’s like you said, Kairi. Maybe no matter where we go, or what we do… maybe we can always come back here.”

There was silence from the other two for a moment, and then laughter – loud sounds that stretched far in the quiet night air.

“What? What’s so funny?” Sora demanded, pouting.

“You!” Riku said through continued bouts of chortling. “Listen to you, trying to get all serious on us.”

“Hey!” Sora moaned, “I can get serious if I want to! Right, Kairi?”

“Well…” the girl jibed, denying comment, and drawing further guffawing from Riku.

When the laughter stopped, the older boy gave off a knowing chuckle, his vibrant green eyes piercing the darkness to behold his friends. “I missed this,” he said simply. “I missed hearing you two knuckleheads bicker.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Sora asked, as the three came to a stop outside Riku’s home.

“It means…” Riku began, choosing his words carefully, before settling on some with a sly grin. “It means maybe you two can talk to each other for once instead of going through messages in bottles and troubling me with it.”

Sora flushed red and directed a playful punch at Riku – the taller boy sidestepped and, in a single smooth motion, grabbed the brunet by his outstretched fist and used Sora’s own momentum to pull him into a hug, which Kairi joined.

“Since you quoted Kairi earlier,” Riku said, gratefulness clear as day in his voice, “I might as well follow suit. _This is real_.”

The three held the embrace for a few moments more, taking in the joyousness, and the familiarity, and the relief of a friendship reunited. Though the three had grown, and been changed by their experiences, they were relieved to find that the hug they had shared in days and years past still felt the same: with Sora at its core, the light and warmth of his radiant heart spread out into the other two, whose strength and softness in equal measure completed the circuit of love. It was bliss given form, and on this night of returns it was enough for tears of joy to find their way into Kairi’s eyes. When they separated, even Riku choked back sentiment he was too proud to show. He bade them goodnight rather than reveal it, seeking swift safety within the walls of the house which was now his home again.

“Your place is closest,” Kairi offered with a smile. “Shall we?”

“Nah, your place next!” Sora flashed his toothy grin. “Can’t let you walk home alone, can I?”

“Oh, Sora!” She tapped him playfully with her open palm. “I’ll be fine! How do you think I got on for over a year without you?”

The pressed his hands to his cheeks and feigned sadness again. “Not too easily, I hope!”

Kairi couldn’t help but giggle, though her eyes transitioned away from humour as she regarded the boy anew. “Not too easily,” she confirmed, voice suddenly rich with layers of meaning. “I’ve- I’ve really missed you.”

“Th-thanks, Kairi.” Sora couldn’t hold his gaze with hers for long – the piercing intensity of her azure eyes and crimson locks, which seemed almost auburn in the alluring darkness of moonlight, caused his heart to pound within his chest and he had to look away. He stole a final glance at her as she took his arms in hers, holding fast to him as they walked. The dark roads, and homes with lights filtering out from windows, had them wreathed in silver as they made her way through the island.

“You’re not going to leave again, are you?” Kairi suddenly asked.

Sora did not know the answer. But perhaps worse, he realised that he did not even know the answer to what he wanted. “Why do you ask?” He settled on instead, knowing her answer before she gave it by the way her grip on his arm tightened.

“Because I’m never sure with you two anymore,” she said, voice resolute in the face of obvious concern. “First you have to go find Riku, then there were the bad guys in the coats… I don’t know, Sora. I don’t know if the both of you are suddenly going to have to take off and leave me here again.”

“It might happen,” Sora blurted out, the unease in his brain forcing the words from his mouth before he could stop them. “We had to deal with problems as they came up, I… I’m not sure if we can say we got everything.”

Kairi stopped in her tracks, and suddenly Sora found himself jerked back by her pull. He came to a sudden halt in front of her, and turned to face the young woman – whose expression had changed to one of pleading, of longing.

“But is that what you want?” She asked, eyes glassy.

“Huh?”

“You heard me, y-you…!” she stammered, demanding a response. “Do you _want_ to go out and fight again? Or would you rather stay here… with me?”

There was a pointed silence as Sora considered his words.

“I don’t like it when I have to fight people, Kairi. It just hurts,” Sora said, placing his free hand over his heart as he spoke. “A-and some of them, they seem to _like_ fighting. They seem to want to do it. And then we’re forced to fight them, because if we don’t, they’ll hurt people. I don’t like that. I don’t like what fighting does to my friends. I don’t like what it does to me.” His eyes were fixed on his shoes as he began once more to put one in front of the other, the movement automatic. Kairi followed again, her soft footsteps moving in the boy’s shadow as she waited on his every word. “I don’t like sometimes that I have to smile and keep on going.” He turned his eyes back to the girl, regarding her with the slightest of awed breaths. “I think that’s one of the reasons I’m happy to see you, Kairi. You don’t like fighting, either.”

“But, Sora…” Kairi’s hand brushed the boy’s reassuringly. “If you don’t like having to fight, then why do you always smile?”

As if on demand, Sora grinned at her sadly as he choked out the words. “Because everyone always needs me to.”

Now it was Kairi’s time to be silent, as the concerns within her welled up.

“Sora, you worry me sometimes,” Kairi said. “I finally get you back, and you’re this big jumble of nerves. Is there anything I can do?”

The young man waved his free hand dismissively. “N-nah,” he breathed. “It’ll be alright. As I said earlier, I just have to get used to it.” They now reached the kerb outside Kairi’s own home, the gated fence of her foster family’s house offering her its familiar refuge. Sora sheepishly withdrew his hand from hers, pulling it back gently. “I… just have to remember that this is why I went through it all. So that I can be here to fix your problems. So that if I have to smile, I can smile for you.”

“Sora, you don’t… are you sure you’re okay?” Kairi’s eyes begged for an honest answer.

The boy gave off a sudden and unexpected laugh, his grin stretching from ear to ear as he puffed his chest out proudly. “Never been better!” he declared, bravado filling his voice. “We did it. I found Riku. I found you…” He deflated himself as he beheld stared once more into Kairi’s eyes, azure locking with azure. “…and now I’m home.”

Not quite convinced, but perhaps reassured, Kairi flung her arms around the young hero’s torso once more, holding him close. Then, convinced he would not crumble or fade as she let go, she pulled away and said her goodnights. Sora stammered back the same sentiments, promises of morning – but between the two, much was left unsaid as princess and knight parted for the evening. Watching her back until it receded into the warm light of her loving home, Sora then dug his hands into his jacket pockets and retreated into his thoughts as he walked.

\--

Sora’s house was much unlike his room. Though it shared the wooden planks and angular irregularity of most of the beachside houses on the island, his home actually had a sense of order to it, mostly due to his mother. She had welcomed him home with a showering of kisses; The King had told Sora that his and Riku’s families were the only ones who had been informed of the true nature of their absence after the Islands had been reformed and its people restored. Glad to have her boy back, Sora’s mother now fussed over him – making threats of shopping for new, more grown-up clothes and returning to school. Looking from room to room, the boy realised that the order of his life here, despite his considerable absence, was very much intact. There was not a thread nor a thing out of place, and despite his mother’s zeal in making sure he was healthy and unharmed, Sora allowed himself to feel the security of home as best he could.

It was a great many more relieved embraces and demanded reassurances before Sora was able to excuse himself for bed, but once he did so, stepping into loneliness for the first time in many months, he understood why his heart had somewhat dreaded the moment.

His room was everything he was afraid of. It was not that it was a child’s room and he no longer a child; Sora still smiled at the spines of old adventure books and the discarded toys and tools of beachside living. Though he had grown, the shorts and shirts stuffed away in the wooden baskets in the corner would still be a firm – if perhaps uncomfortable – fit. The shell lamp dangling perilously from the ceiling still gave him light he could read by, and the tall oblong windows by his bed would always give him a horizon to gaze at. These comforts tried in vain to allay the boy’s creeping anxiety, as what struck Sora as most eerie about his old room was its absolute accuracy to the past.

It was almost exactly as he’d left it; strewn things had been scooped off the floor, but otherwise this was the room of a boy whose entire life had been spent here, on these islands, unknowingly positioned in a vast and precarious universe alive with foreign dangers and wonders. It was the room of a boy with few concerns and even fewer responsibilities, the room of a boy who had believed the worlds could be travelled by raft. It was the space of a child who had not known uncertainty, not known betrayal, not known anxiety or loneliness – and he felt like an intruder in it. His body ran through movements as if on autopilot. The way he pulled a drawer open, the way he gazed at maps and trinkets stuck to the walls and ceiling, the way he prepared himself for bed. He was home, but the room still felt empty; its only occupant a phantom, a boy who had become Sora.

Forcing himself into old pyjamas that were well and truly too small as part of this attempt to fit into old routines, Sora lay down on his bed and, for the first time since returning, allowed himself to breathe. He had no-one, now, to distract him when the thoughts came to pull at the edges of his frayed mind – not only were his clothes stiflingly hot, his bed was too soft. He was used to the tough, rectangular mattress installed on the Gummi Ship, designed of course to take up as little space as possible. It was smaller than this, with thinner cushions as opposed to the massive, sinking cloud of a thing that now cradled his head. His room was too silent. The barely-audible drone of the waves outside was not enough; Sora was used to the beeping of the consoles, the omnipresent thrumming of the ship’s drive as it punched its way through space, the occasional chatter of Donald, or Goofy, or both as they manned the craft when his sleep shift came up. He was used to them, used to constant rotations and alerts, used to noise. Used to constant company – the silence, and stillness, and loneliness chipped away at Sora as he writhed around desperately for comfort.

Sora could not have been sure exactly how long he lay awake. Hours, surely, must have whittled away in silence as he lay on his back, feeling exactly the vulnerability he had feared in returning home to this cradle-world. The too-small cloth suffocated his skin, the soft plush of his quilt felt like it was swallowing him in his entirety, and the silence caused him to stare at something, anything he could identify to anchor him to reality, as the deafening lack of sound was as he’d always imagined the void outside the Gummi Ship.

Craning his neck to glance at small clock resting on his headboard, Sora spied that not only had midnight long passed, but even two of the small hours of the morning had been wasted as well. Trying to close his eyes had been giving him nothing, but now, desperate to leave the night behind, he tried again – reaching for sleep amidst troubled thoughts.

His eyes opened. It had felt like a blink, but orange light now filtered in through the window. The soft matter of his eyes burned with uncomfortable vividness, as though a layer of acid had pooled just behind his eyelids. He glanced at the clock. It was just after dawn – he could have slept for two hours at most, but his eyes were so open it was as though he had been robbed of the ability to close them. He tossed and turned desperately in his mattress for a few minutes more, before sitting straight up in frustration. Pulling off the pyjama top, he let his skin breathe, though the air was stale and hot in the small room. Compared to the environment-controlled ship, the artificial cold of which he had eventually grown used to, this small wooden enclosure was stifling. Sora all but jumped to his feet, opening the door to his room and feeling the cool air of the home outside wash over his form.

He left a note for his mother before leaving, but sure enough Sora was out the door just minutes later. He made his way through the tranquillity of the immediate post-dawn, walking quietly on dirt footpaths past still-quiet houses. Every so often, an early riser would pass him, bleary-eyed or in their own head at the advent of early morning. The quiet little beachside community was still closed to the world, shutters down on storefront windows and windows still dimmed. Following the sound in his heart and the familiar smell of salt in his nose, he found the old sandy path that led down to the shoreline – now dressed in the golden march of sunrise.

Clearing the line of frontier dunes standing sentinel over the beach, Sora stepped out on to the sand. Having slipped his shoes off so as the feel the sensation of dry sand, powdery and pleasing, between his toes, Sora made furtive steps towards the water, noticing as he went that he was not alone.

Riku sat on the beachfront also, watching the sun sparkle off the waves and surfers ride the tides into shore.

“You couldn’t sleep either?” the teen called out as Sora approached him.

“Nah,” Sora huffed as he sat down next to the older boy. “It was too quiet, and my bed is –”

“Too soft? Felt like it was going to swallow you?”

“Yeah. How did you…?”

“DiZ didn’t exactly keep comfortable quarters,” Riku admitted, keeping his gaze fixed out on the sea. “I got more sleep than I expected, considering. More than you, from the looks of it.”

The brunet rubbed his eyes conscientiously. “Is it too noticeable?”

Riku reached out and patted his back. “Could be worse. How are you holding up?”

“I’m alright,” Sora replied, nodding. “It’s just such a shock, you know? I mean, just yesterday we looked at… that other shoreline. I’m glad we weren’t there for long.”

“Sora, we were in the Realm of Darkness for a week.”

This caused the boy to jolt. “What? A week? Are you kidding me?”

Riku nodded, recounting. “The King told me about it. They completely lost track of us for days, before we picked up Kairi’s letter. That let them confirm that we were okay. We –” he paused, “You have a lot to thank her for. Then they waited for us, once they saw that a way back here had opened up.”

The smaller boy pulled his knees to his chest, drawing two thick trails in the sand. “I didn’t know that. That place is sure is scary, huh? Imagine being stuck there.”

The moment held for a second before Riku replied. “I get the feeling you still are, Sora.”

“No way!” Sora jumped to his feet, flashing his first smile of the day. “We made it out of there! Right back home, safe and sound, right?”

“Yeah,” Riku said, looking up at him. “But we might never have, if it weren’t for her. Don’t you think you have something to say?”

“Of course! I’ll be sure to thank her! We both should!”

An exasperated sigh issued forth from the boy as he also pulled himself to his feet. “That’s not what I mean, Sora.”

“Riku?”

The older boy rubbed the bridge of his nose, the movement loaded with consternation. “You’re finally home, Sora. You’re with Kairi. Isn’t there anything you want to say to her? Just you?”

Sora’s mood fell slightly as his cheeks reddened, and his eyelids dropped to half-mast. “Well, yeah,” he breathed. “A whole lot of things. But I’m not sure she…”

“You mean you haven’t been back to the secret place, yet?” Riku snapped. “You’re a real handful, you know that?”

“Aww! C’mon, Riku! Stop teasing! What is it?”

Riku lightly punched the other boy on the shoulder. “Why don’t you go and find out? If I were you, I’d go soon. Gonna be a long weekend otherwise.”

Exhaustion made itself known alongside confusion on Sora’s face as he demanded answers. “Riku, what’s going on? Don’t act weird!”

The taller teen stifled back a laugh as he struggled to get to the point. “Oh, I’m the one acting weird? You… look. I think it’s important that you go out to the secret place sometime today. I’m going to be joining the King as he heads back to the castle tomorrow, and...”

“Riku, you can’t…!”

“I’ll only be gone for two days!” Riku urged, holding his hands out for calm as the smaller grew visibly flustered at the prospect. “I know we only just got back, but I need to see this through. Mickey is going to talk to Master Yen Sid. And I’m going to find out for sure if we’ve done all we can for now.”

“Well, that means me too!” That now-trademark grin made itself known. “I’ll come with you!”

“Sora… you’re not coming.”

“Don’t be silly, Riku.”

“No – you’re not coming, Sora. The King has forbidden it. And I’m not letting you, either.”

The young hero’s faced flashed through several resurgent emotions. First confusion, then frustration suddenly exuded from the boy’s tired eyes. “Why, Riku? Don’t you want me to?”

Riku gave off a grunt of displeasure. “Of course I’d like you to, Sora!” He avoided his friend’s hurt gaze. “It’s just… the King feels bad. He wants you to stay here. Relax. Spend some time home with your family, get to know our old friends… speak to Kairi.”

“But Riku,” Sora whispered. “What if there is something else out there?” Worry had found its way into the young man’s voice, and now his gloved hand clutched at Riku’s sleeve. “You’ll need me there.”

“Sora,” Riku sighed, “if it comes to that, I’ll be back to get you. But for now we all need you right here. We need you smiling. Can you do that for me?”

Nodding and obliging, Sora gave a weary variant of his delightful expression.

“That’s the Sora I know,” Riku confirmed with a chuckle. “Now I want you to go the secret place sometime today, and then come to my place with Kairi tonight. Gonna catch up with some of the old gang, try out our cover stories. If you’re not passed out, I want you both there.”

“Sure!” Sora exclaimed with renewed energy, his ears coming alive at the mention of a party. Bidding Riku a hasty goodbye, the boy began running towards the stretch of shore where the rowboat was secured. “I’ll do it now – see you later, Riku!”

Sighing and pulling his completely dry towel off the sand, the vastly deflated Riku made a solemn retreat for the shade of the upper beach. Settling under a paopu tree, the teen watched the waves pensively, until the voice he’d been expecting piped up from the tropical undergrowth.

“How bad is he?” Spoke the high-pitched authority of the King, rich with concern.

“He’s pretty shaken,” Riku answered back to the vegetation. “I couldn’t get him to calm down. I’m worried about him being alone here, even if it’s just two days.”

“It’s for his own good. I can’t help but feel responsible,” the King admitted, his chirping voice pensive. “Maybe if we hadn’t had to sneak around so much. Maybe if the threat had been more clear from the beginning, he wouldn’t be so scared now.”

“Don’t blame yourself, Your Majesty,” Riku shot back. “That’s the nature of the darkness. It can’t be seen.”

“Hmm,” Mickey returned. “I guess you’re right. We just have to hope he’ll pull himself back into light, like usual.”

Riku watched the small, wooden craft as its dawdled into view, making its way across the morning tides towards the smaller island – Sora’s head of hair recognisable even from this distance as the boy rowed. Riku thought for a moment.

“What if he didn’t have to pull himself out alone?”

“Riku?”

“Mickey,” Riku whispered hurriedly, using the King’s name in a moment of excitement. “What would Minnie do if it was you who was scared like that?”

“Hmm,” the unseen royal pondered. “I guess she’d take me aside and ask me about it. But what are you – ”

“I have to go,” the teenager said, jumping to his feet.

“Riku?”

“I have to do everything I can,” he added, and then hissed under his breath, “I just hope she’s an early riser.”

\--

Rising off of his knees, Sora glance around at the dim, enclosed space that had guarded secrets and memories through his life. The space was cool, still retaining the beauty of morning, with pure white light filtering in from above in a column of radiant strands. Sora put his hand to the stone wall with its veins and capillaries of hard wood, tree roots that split the rock face. He stole a glance at the simple wooden door at the end of the passage – the enigmatic wooden door that, he now knew, led to the vulnerable heart of their little world.

Stomaching his anxiety and trying instead to just enjoy the moment, he advanced on one drawing after another, opening the vault of his cherished recollections for each one and realising, to his surprise, that the remembered each as though it played out in the video reel of memory before him. He could see them, as children, smiles lighting the world, flitting between sandy footprints, hands dusty with the powder of rock-chalk.

Sora settled on one drawing, a great nebulous thing with a shape that defied easy explanation. It had branches that struck out in all directions, a star-map leading to nowhere, a tree with no roots. Its white form stuck on the dark canvas of the stone, and Sora affectionately ran his hand across it, remembering how the nonsense shape had seemed like such an accomplishment to them when they had created it.

Sora’s footsteps brought him before the thing he’d come out to see. Closest to the enigmatic door, it was a small drawing, among the smallest of this collection on stone canvas, yet to Sora it represented the most of things left behind and words left unsaid. He had drawn it before being swept into adventure; a beautifully sincere sentiment, of him offering a paopu fruit to Kairi. Perhaps he’d hoped to keep her close to him throughout their journey, perhaps he thought their planned adventure on their little raft meant she would never see the sentiment. Either way, the memory of it filled Sora’s heart with unease; it was so childish, and so naïve, that he doubted even Kairi could react to it with anything but dismissal. His heart pounded inside his chest as he approached the drawing, running his hand over the chalky simulation of his own hair.

Kneeling to better face the artwork, Sora’s face became softened with surprise as he noticed that the illustration had been added to. Heavy sentiment swirled in his core as he realised that the image of Kairi was offering a paopu back to him, the trading of the fruit now symmetrical and reciprocal. Placing a disbelieving hand over the fruit drawn by the other, Sora now found his feelings alive with frightened bliss, at the dawning of an unknown and loving sun:

Kairi loved him also.

He stayed there, kneeled, for some time attempting to settle his recusant emotions. His inner heart wanted to let the feeling, long-coveted, wash over him and give him joy – however, his anxiety, unwelcome as ever, provided doubts in turn. Had Kairi perhaps drawn that when Namine had altered the memories of him and his loved ones? Had she drawn it early on, and now no longer felt that way? Had he taken too long to return, or would bringing it up now be too soon? Had she expected him to see it already?

Did she ever? Had she performed the same act of cowardly sentiment he had?

For someone as used to direct action as Sora, he was uncharacteristically conflicted. Unable to bring a genuine smile to his face, he looked at the drawing for minutes more, trying to recapture the joy he should be feeling – but all he could muster was a bittnerness that built within him. Resentment, an uncharacteristic enmity towards the exhaustion and worry that had robbed him of what should have been a very happy moment.

\--

It was slightly too early for the stars to be out yet, but Sora still looked for them. He longed for reminders, for reassurances from the sky that the places he had visited and people he had met were still out there and safe without him. He waited on the footpath, dressed in the only casual shirt and shorts that still fit him, with one hand resting on the corrugated iron letterbox which marked the periphery of his home. His eyes, half-lidded in their desperate search for company, were still sore; the acidic biting of his exhaustion was inescapable, and now always at the forefront of his feeling. The thudding in his chest would not slow, and the knot in his stomach failed to come undone even when he imagined comforting sensations – wet sand, sea-salt ice cream, his friends’ laughter, Kairi…

“Sora?”

Snapping to attention, Sora was suddenly face-to-face with the very young woman he had envisioned. He hadn’t heard her approach – and now Kairi was close. Her faces was inches from his as she stood at the tips of her toes, neck craned seemingly just to snap him from his reverie with greater efficiency. She was so close that Sora could himself reflected in her eyes. Her expression, as always, lay somewhere between playful and patient as she regarded him happily.

“You look good!” She chirruped, regarding him fondly as she lowered herself back onto her heels. “Good to see you still have one outfit I remember!”

“Thanks, Kairi,” Sora said gratefully, looking her over.

She wore a light summery dress, white and flowing, with an array of flower patterns making its way up in a rich purple shade. Her scarlet locks contrasted it perfectly, falling about the exposed skin of her shoulder in a way that was effortlessly elegant and casual. She smiled at him, the perfect image of home and happiness, and Sora found his breath drawing shallow and heat pooling in his face.

“You look,” he gasped, “amazing, Kairi.”

She gave off a thankful grin and offered her his arm. “Thank you, Sora. Shall we?”

Stuffing his exhaustion back into the outliers of his mind, Sora wrapped his arm around hers delightedly. “Sure. Let’s go.”

They stepped side by side in the perfect image of serenity; however, the unseen war in the brunet’s mind raged on. The drawing in the secret place had made many things clear, even to him – however, the fears rampaged unabated. His heart told him to go for it – this was Kairi. The girl he had always coveted. But, his brain reminded him, if you reach out and fail to grasp, she’s gone. Like a unique wave on the shoreline. Unrecoverable.

“Hey, Sora?” Kairi’s voice shook him from his turmoil, as it so often had.

“Mmm?”

“Do you think… we could go by the beach?”

Sora smiled, and stopped at the path which led down to the shore. “The beach?” he asked. “Well, sure… but why?” He gave a nervous laugh. “Bit out of the way, for Riku’s place.”

The Princess of Heart gave a shrug to go with her contented smile. “I’ve just wanted to look at it with you for some time, that’s all.”

Feeling the heat in his cheeks intensify as he took in the sublimeness of her features, Sora could only oblige. “Of course,” he said through his gasp. “R-read my mind.”

Leading the woman through the narrow path, even taking her shoes as she slipped them off to step into the sand, Sora ascended the slight incline to the beachfront, clearing the dunes and reaching the tiny apex of sand that gave him a full view of the darkening shoreline –

A view that then whirled and flew around him in a blur of motion, as Sora was thrown from his feet and sent tumbling down the dune onto the beach by a sudden impact, scrabbling and rolling through the sand in dizzying pirouettes through the grit. When at last he rolled a stop, he coughed over his shoulder, clearing his dry mouth of stray grains nearly swallowed in his fall, his darting around for the culprit of his assault – before he found Kairi, leaned over him, hair dangling in the air space between their faces. Her hands pinned both of his arms to the ground, and she was shaking herself free of sandy clumps also, indicating that not only had she endured the fall, but been its instigator.

“K-Kairi?” Sora coughed, wheezing through winded lungs. “Why? Now I’m all… the party…”

“We’re not going, Sora.” Kairi said firmly, as she watched the boy cough and hack inelegantly into the soft white mounds of sand. “You and I need to talk.”

“Oh yeah?” Sora shot back, unable to stop a smile of challenge from creeping onto his face, “and are you gonna make me? I just have to brush myself off.”

The young woman suddenly altered her grip, seizing Sora by his shoulders. “Hold on tight!” she all but sang, and kicked off one foot with surprising strength – she flung herself and Sora sideways, again sending them in a messy tumble down the beach towards the lapping water. Filled with confusion, Sora’s head spun in disastrous cycles that dizzied him and overcame his mind. Feeling the illness of uncertainty blast its way into his head once more, Sora let his instincts kick in. He wrapped one arm around Kairi’s back and then dug his other hand into the now-wet sand beneath him. His momentum pulled his arm taut, but he was stronger than the movement by far and both teenagers came to a halt immediately, Sora’s other firm hand guiding Kairi softly onto the sand next to him.

“That,” Kairi breathed, through panting, “was kinda fun, right?”

“A little,” Sora breathed, forcing a smile. “But I win! Still nothing I can’t fix.”

As if on cue, a magnificent wave of foamy salt water crashed onto the beach, splashing itself into the sand and flooding the two teenagers with a cold bath of saline reality.

When the wave receded, Kairi was laughing. Her sound was high and rhythmic, genuine and unfiltered. Sora hadn’t heard this laugh before; it was not the giggle of a girl, but the laughter of a woman, not fully grown but blossoming into reality before his eyes. She was here, he realised, in front of him, no longer content to haunt dreams, memories, and fantasies. He watched from his recess in the mudlike sand, dirty and wet and awestruck, as she sat up, dress clinging to her wet body in the surf. She turned to face him then, face full of love, and Sora rose himself onto his elbows, tiredness forgotten even as his frayed nerves and eyes stung with the sensation of salt water. Another wave passed below them, running over their hands and feet in rivulets as they beheld each other. Forgetting matted hair, sore skin, and heads still spinning, Sora’s heart finally beat hard enough for the warm blood to make its way through him. And there, joined by limbs and the shallows of the ocean, Sora felt just enough thaw in the freeze of his panicked heart to choke, between sobs, a single, vital sentence:

“Kairi… please talk to me.”

\--

Dusk gave way to evening. The stars began to blink on in the darkening sky, constants of the night whose course was certain, forming a map of the heavens above their heads. Sora and Kairi, now sitting again on dry sand, waited as the droplets migrated off her bodies into the thirsty sand.

“So, did Riku put you up to this?” Sora asked, eyes at half-mast.

“He said I needed to talk to you,” Kairi confessed, “but the plan was all mine.”

“I don’t know, Kairi,” he replied, with an ironic chuckle. “Wasn’t it a little rough to be your plan?”

“Hey!” she snapped. “You saw me in that castle! I can get rough when I need to!”

Sora hummed in agreement, before turning to her. “Hey, Kairi – about that. Your Keyblade. Can you summon it, like I can?”

Kairi thought for a moment, before shrugging. “I’m not sure,” she answered, “I haven’t tried.”

Sora gave off a sharp, surprised intake of breath. “Really? Why not try it now?”

The woman tilted her head inquisitively. “Why would I want to?” she asked. “I don’t need it right now.”

“But, that’s –”

“Hmm?”

The vermillion-haired girl was staring into Sora with her oceanic eyes, piercing straight through as if daring him to discuss the matter further. To drop the matter of Keyblades and Heartless and simply relax. Exhaustion robbed Sora of his good sense, however, and as he blinked back tiredness, the cue was lost on him.

“I mean…” he breathed, “what if you need it?”

She smiled patiently, her tone even. “Then I’ll deal with that when it comes.”

The boy’s heart began to beat faster. “Why isn’t anyone… is no-one else just a little bit worried?” Feeling the muscles in his right arm tense and seize with the desired motions, Sora extended it into the night air, palm outstretched. He prepared to feel the rush, the sudden invigoration of ancient magic as it transposed the Keyblade into his grasp. He was ready for the world to right itself, for blessed control to return in all its glory, for security to flood through him.

Instead, he felt Kairi’s soft hands take his outstretched one, close it gently, and hold it reassuringly.

“You don’t have to,” she said, her tone honeyed, her gaze rich with luscious sympathy. “I don’t want you to. This is just us. You’re here, I’m here, and we’re both safe.”

“Safe…” Sora mused, as he pulled his hand away and turned back to face the empty night horizon.

The girl turned to face her friend, watching conflict play out and resolve in his heart. She could do nothing, only hope that he would take a chance on her promise of sympathy. Her heart jolted as he began to speak, an uneasy voice which was plagued with fear.

The boy took a sharp intake of breath. “Kairi – do you ever worry… like I do? About how if even Keybearers can be swayed by the darkness, and we all have darkness inside us, we could start down a path without even knowing that path leads to darkness?”

“Sora, I…”

“Or- or, how if something is travelling through one of those portals, and is cloaking their presence, then they could travel here and hurt us before we knew they were even coming?”

“Sora, you need to –” she attempted to reach out, but he raised a pleading hand.

“I’m sorry, I’m not sure – I’m not sure what I’m trying to say,” Sora stammered, his eyes darting around the dark beach, the limitless expanse of the pitch-black ocean beyond him. The smile, forced into existence, returned to his lips, and his face lit up in a façade of his usual self. “Just- just forget I said it! Not worth thinking about anyway.”

“No, Sora, really…”

“You’re right!” Sora exclaimed, trying desperately to rebottle the sentiment. “It was a dumb thought anyway. Just gotta keep smiling. It’s like Donald always says, ‘this ship runs on smiles–’”

“SORA!” Kairi shouted, her face scrunched with concern. “You need to stop burying this!”

“Kairi, I…” Sora looked at his feet. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to –”

“You need to talk to me, right now,” the woman demanded. “I can’t stand to see you like this. You’ve been away for so long, then you’re home, and now you’re not even trusting us,” her eyes connected with his, begging for elaboration. “I’m worried, Sora. Have we hurt you? Is it – is it me?”

Sora was unable to stop himself from reaching out to Kairi, placing one soft palm against the velvet skin of her cheek. Her hand to his, cherishing the movement, her skin prickling at first, but then sinking into joy at his touch.

“It’s not you,” he breathed. “It never will be. You’re… you’re everything that’s good.”

Kairi’s face went several shades of crimson deeper, before she remembered why they were here. “Then tell me,” she somehow murmured despite her blush, “because I want to help you, Sora.”

The boy could not muster even a sad smile as he turned away and faced the shoreline. “I’m just… well, I… I wonder if there’s not something more I could do – something I’ve missed.” He flexed and unflexed his hand, tired mind double and triple checking memories. “Just… if there’s anything still out there. These stories I come across that seem fully told from the start, people who seem befriended the moment I meet them! What about them? Are they safe? Are we?”

Kairi said nothing, only watched with glassy eyes, as Sora continued. “I just can’t stop thinking about it, Kairi. There has to be something. It’s too simple for it to just be over. Another dark force that could snuff out our little world, or another bad man hiding just out of sight!”

He began to breathe hard and fast, words escaping in hisses of breath as tears gathered at the edges of his eyelids. “There has to be. Because now that it’s all stopped everyone seems so peaceful, and yet I can’t see the ocean at night, and I still see that dark shore when I close my eyes and even though you told me not to change I did, and I hurt you when I left you behind – and I can usually laugh and smile it off but I’m stuck here now and the laughter’s not coming and I’m beginning to wonder if I’m not just a little bit-”

Kairi flung her arms around Sora’s neck, in one motion pulling the boy into her just as the floodgates of his emotion broke and he began to cry. Panicked, anguished sobs sounded out from between Sora’s lips as he cried into the shoulder Kairi had offered him, tears of fearful worry spilling across skin and cloth. Kairi felt her skin prickle as a few drops made their way down her back, leaving a warm trail of longing in their wake.

“It’s okay,” Kairi breathed into his ear, holding Sora closer as he jerked and heaved in her arms with the force of his crying. “You’re here. You’re home now. And you’re allowed to be scared.”

She held him like this for some time, the two alone but for sound of the hero’s tears, the heartbeat of the other in each other’s ears, and the calming, ceaseless rhythm of waves upon the sand.

\--

Opening the door to her home, the princess ushered the boy in protectively. Though both shivered from the consequences of their brush with the ocean, it was Sora who seemed severely shrunk by the affair – the weight of his confessions, the burden of his sadness had sunk his shoulders and bowed his head. Accepting her role as his salve, at least for the moment, Kairi led the Keybearer over to the couch which sat before the fireplace. Placing fresh fuel onto the embers, she sat him down on the sofa, before pulling a thick woollen shawl from its place on a decorative cushion nearby and wrapping it around them both. She offered him a smile full of anticipation as they waited, shoulders pressed together, for the fire to bring comfort.

“Are you sure this is okay?” Sora dared to ask, even though it risked fracturing the fragile preciousness of the moment.

“It’s fine,” Kairi said. “Dad is away a lot of nights... he can’t really dodge duties on such a small island. He’s always urged me to bring school friends home so that I don’t get lonely… or you.”

“Just me?” Sora asked shivering. “Or Riku, too?”

“Oh, sure, Riku and Tidus and Wakka are welcome, he likes them too. But he always says…” Kairi shuffled off the blanket, and rose to her feet. She puffed out her chest in a simulation of her foster father the mayor, and boomed, “‘If I’m not here, they’re not here!’” She dropped the act, giggling. “I think you’re the only one he trusts, Sora.”

“Oh, really?” Sora goaded playfully. “I should show him the Keyblade some time. A big nasty one, like Fenrir or Fatal Crest. He’d never let me in the door again!”

“Don’t you dare,” Kairi chided, laughing. “I’m hoping for many more years of happiness here. And you’re not getting out of sharing in them, mister!”

Lacking Kairi’s heat, Sora folded in the blanket over himself again as he watched Kairi glow in the warm orange light of the fireplace. “I don’t understand, Kairi,” he said, “You know all those worlds are out there. You know you’re not even from here. So how do you do it? How do you put your feet in the sand, here of all places, and decide that this is home?”

The question caught the girl off-guard. Kairi turned towards the fireplace, pondering the implications of Sora’s request. Behind her, the boy settled into a reclined position, comfort finally revealing itself to him in the unique mix of joyous, happy things of the room – the blanket she had wrapped around him, the memory of her hands in his, her scent of summer flowers… and the sight of her, pale skin glimmering in the half-life of the fireplace, azure eyes vast and endless in their promise, as she turned back to him with her answer.

“You know, this house isn’t my home either,” she began, hugging herself with her own arms. “At least, not the one I came from. But it’s where the people who decided to take care of me live.”

She began to wistfully make her way throughout the room, glancing back to Sora every so often. “You see, the pictures on these walls tell me I belong. There I am on the beach, and there I am at school. There I am with you and Riku! I think that fish we caught made the paper.” The memory caused her to force back a chuckle. “You know what else tells me I belong here? That chair over there,” she moved to a large white leather recliner, and draped herself over it – head on one armrest, knees dangling over the other. “I read so many books here, Dad worried I’d bend my back for good.” Springing back to her feet, she stepped over to a small tray-table near the corner of the room, pulling up a fine glass decanter with an amber liquid sloshing around inside. “Neither the house or the people living in it felt any less welcome when I tried this, only to find out that it wasn’t the tea I like.”

Sora watched her with bated breath as she returned to his side and sat down on the couch, coming to rest just shy of the boy’s torso. Kairi reached out and stroked the brunet’s hair reassuringly. “You see, Sora? This is my home because the memories make it that way. It has walls that keep the wind out, it has windows which let me find the sun and stars, it has big electric lights, and gas heat which let me stay up through the whole night if I want to! This house is not a fortress, or a palace, but I don’t want it to be. It has everything – and everyone – I need,” she paused, before adding, “except you. Until now.”

Kairi then shifted position, and Sora murmured drowsily in surprise as the young woman now lay down next to him and wrapped the blanket around herself as well. Their bodies were pressed into each other’s, their breath hot on each other’s neck, Sora and Kairi had nothing to look at beyond the inescapable sight of the other’s face. Lost in the glassy expanses of each other’s eyes, Kairi continued. "You need to remember, Sora, that as you can see me, you’re home. And that means you don’t have to be the hero. You don’t have to fix everyone’s problems. You don’t even have to smile if you’re not feeling like smiling.”

Sora was now almost asleep, lulled into dreaming by the trancelike cadence of the girl’s sentiments, but he managed to croak out one last statement as his arms folded around her. “For you… I’ll always smile.”

Blinking sudden and hot tears of happiness, Kairi wrapped her arms around Sora’s chest, pulling herself closer into him and placing her head into the crook of his neck. “Good,” she cooed, whispering into his ear. “Because I want you to see… that like a little house with walls and light and memories, this little world has everything we need. Sunset comes and goes, and the sun always rises again.” She felt the boy relax, his stiff muscles giving way to weary rest. “We’ll protect it if we have to, but for now… let’s just have fun. We have time. Even time loves us.”

Sora’s breathing settled into a soft rhythm, steady and relaxed, and the gentle rising and falling of his chest told Kairi that the boy was asleep. Her hands grasped at him happily, her legs curled around his own and her face flushed as his sleeping lips parted and pursed with blissful rest on her forehead, essentially blessing her with an unknown kiss every few moments. And in that moment, though she did not know for sure, though she could barely even speculate as to what this oft-dense boy actually knew, she felt secure enough in his deep slumber to take the risk.

“I love you, Sora,” Kairi whispered into his ear as she closed her own eyes. “Please, sleep well.”

\--

The rapping on the glass panes of the front door alerted Kairi to her visitor. She knew it was Riku long before she glimpsed his form in the intermittent glass panels of the thing, as Riku had a very specific tune he used for knocking. In one of his many cases of worshipping the other boy, Sora used the same tune, but was always gentler on the glass.

“Good morning,” Kairi near-whispered, welcoming Riku with a smile. She had woken up maybe half an hour before and, now changed into casual clothes, looked a sight better than Riku – who had clearly endured the right mix of a late night, little sleep, and an early start. “How was the party?”

“Hey,” Riku said, returning the greeting as he hefted a bag over his shoulder. “It was alright, could’ve been worse. It wasn’t even that bad until –”

“Let me guess,” Kairi groaned. “Tidus?”

He nodded. “Tidus.”

“That boy is in too much of a hurry to grow up.” Nodding sagely, Kairi gestured Riku inside. “Would you like coffee?” She asked. “I like to think I’m getting better at making it.”

“No thanks, Kairi,” the young man replied as his eyes gravitated on an old photo of the three of them as children. “I’m actually just here to check in with you. I told her it’s almost certainly nothing, but Sora’s mother says he didn’t come home last night. Just had to check if –”

He turned back to face his friend, and she simply stood pointing in the direction of the couch – a gesture which she then twisted into a finger across her lips for quiet. Stepping over, Riku lay eyes on Sora, who was slumbering away in tranquillity that infants could only dream of.

“No way,” Riku gasped, turning to Kairi and speaking in hushed tones of excitement. “How long has he been like this?”

“We’re at eleven hours and counting,” Kairi informed, evidently proud of her handiwork.

“When he wakes up I’m gonna tell him off,” Riku promised with a chuckle. “Again, I find him at a time he should be looking after you, and he’s napping.”

“Riku,” the girl chirped, nudging him playfully. “That’s just the kind of talk that got him like this in the first place.”

“I know,” the boy chuckled in response. “Besides, look at him. Hard to stay angry, huh?”

Still cocooned in the shawl, the young Keybearer was wrapped in a sleep that seemed to have all but dissolved the worries on his face. His head rested between the armrest and backboard of the cushioned chair, large tufts of brown hair messily flattened against the fabric. Watching him, the other two were silent for a moment, before Riku broke the quiet.

“He’s done so much for everyone,” Riku mused. “Now it’s our turn to look after him.”

Kairi nodded happily next to him. “Both of us, together.”

“Are you two…?”

“No. Not yet.”

Riku scoffed. “Of course. Gets the night alone with you and doesn’t say a word of what he wants to. If he makes you wait, Kairi, I’ll never…”

“It’s okay,” the girl breathed. “I’ve loved him for years. I can wait a little longer.”

“Just don’t be afraid to bash the door down if it won’t budge,” Riku advised. “If there’s one thing I’ve learned watching out for him on his journey, it’s that when the game is changed, he actually does adapt really well. Don’t tell him I said that, though.”

“I’ll be sure to keep that in mind,” Kairi shot back with cheek. “And about that… Riku, from the sounds of it you did so much for everyone, too. Thank you for looking after him.”

“I messed up a lot,” Riku replied, abashed. “I did what I could to make up for it. But you, Kairi… we wouldn’t even be here if it you hadn’t... More than that, if it weren’t for you… Sora would never have seen past the dark exterior I had.” The boy balled his fist, lost in reflection. “He might never have known it was me. So… thank you, Kairi. You’ve brought both of us back, in more ways than one.”

Kairi wrapped an arm around the taller boy’s, throwing him an affectionate smile of reassurance. “I knew you needed help,” she said simply, “so I did what I could.”

Riku gratefully returned the expression, the two finding solace in the other. An idea struck Kairi, the seeds of mischief spreading across her features.

“Wanna wake this lazy bum up?”

Riku grinned back. “You know it.”

The boy silently slipped over to one side of the couch, leaning against the back of it and placing his hands underneath the furnishing. “Ready?”

Kairi flashed a thumbs-up, and Riku dug his heels into the carpet, pushing up with his knees – the great chair began to tip as he lifted it, Sora’s flat bed suddenly becoming an incline of steepening intensity. The brunet shifted, first in inches, down the cushioned surface – before his mass shifted too perilously, reliable gravity took over, and Sora uncomfortably tumbled to the floor with a dull thud.

Scrunched in displeasure, Sora awoke with a grotesque display of facial expressions that ran through shock, surprise and offence. This array settled, however, on relief and even begrudging happiness as his sight filtered in from rude, blinding whiteness – as, after many long months of worrying, his breath was finally taken by this first waking sight.

He was finally able to wake up and see the two people he loved most looking over him. Laughing. Smiling. There.

“Morning, snoozy,” Kairi chimed.

“Guhmornin,” Sora mumbled, a crumpled word that transitioned into a long, loud yawn. “Riku,” he groaned loudly in the closing stages of the motion. “What’re you doing here?”

“Coming to find you,” Riku replied coolly, digging into the bag over his shoulder and throwing a fistful of primarily black clothing – Sora’s journeying clothes – at the boy. Sora struggled with them as the piles landed on his face, causing Kairi to laugh merrily.

“Get dressed,” Riku directed, “and we’ll get going. It’s the King and the others’ last day in town.” The silver haired man’s expression was free from worry as he gave a shrug of resignation. “I say we have some fun. What do you think about that, Sora? Feeling better?”

And then it came – the genuine, ebullient grin of the Keybearer Sora lit up the room, given not out of expectation or disguise but freely gifted, worn because happiness was the order of the new day.

“Better!” He exclaimed, as he leapt to his feet with newfound vigour.

\--

The day, passed in blissful happiness among cherished friends, had wound down to a sunset of departures. The orange glow of twilight lit Sora and Kairi into vibrant hues, the tone of their skin going pink – and the pink of their cheeks going scarlet as they waved goodbye the Gummi Ship as it took off above the water, knowing that for now, the two were alone.

“Bye, guys!” Sora called out after the ship as it receded into the distance, the water lightly parting under the force of its thrusters. “Visit soon!”

Then, the vessel activated its drive with a customary twirl of vertiginous momentum and launched itself into the void, disappearing from sight. A sigh escaped from Sora’s lips, and Kairi wasted no time in reclaiming his attention.

“They’ll be back, Sora,” she said sweetly, and with such confidence that Sora could only nod in agreement.

The two began to walk back towards the boat, leaving behind once again the played-in shallows and rickety structures of their childhood sanctuary. They dawdled with the patience of youth, Sora in his crisscrossing, heroic clothing and Kairi in her divine rosy minidress, the very image of their truest selves. They chatted amiably as they went, but it was what went unsaid that was louder by far.

“So, Kairi, anything pop up around here while we were gone?”

“Hmm,” Kairi thought. “Oh! Tidus’ dad now runs an ice cream cart in the evenings,” she suggested. “It’s pretty good. I can vouch.”

“I’ll try it!” Sora agreed, feeling a warm glow in his chest at the thought of the familiar sensation.

“Oh…” Kairi started as they passed the waterfall, the small chasm waiting behind it beckoning to Kairi with its promise delivered. “Sora, um…”

The boy turned around. “What’s the matter, Kairi?”

“Have you… have you been back to the secret place, yet?”

Sora’s heart skipped a beat. “Yeah,” he answered, keeping his voice even and his tone as unaffected as he could. “I went there yesterday.”

“And…?”

Sora’s mind raced with potential answers, avoiding her eye contact as he led the way. “It was good to see all that stuff again,” he said, his mouth dry with nervous effort. “I… ah…”

He had no choice. “W-what ice cream are you thinking of getting, Kairi?”

The girl swallowed back a sentence designed to keep Sora on topic. She could see that his face was red as beet all the way to its edges, and as Kairi herself flushed red she had to forcibly remind herself not to push him too far all at once. Instead, she chose to relent, though she noticed with a squirming of her stomach that she did not feel nearly as in-control of her feelings as she had boasted to Riku that morning.

“Um. Mango, maybe. Something sweet. You?”

“Why, isn’t it obvious?” Sora guffawed, too loudly for the laugh to be natural. “Sea-salt, of course!”

\--

“Sea-salt!?” the proprietor repeated, incredulously. “Why the heck would ya want that in yer ice cream?”

The owner of the ice-cream stand was a lean, powerful man. He had the spectacular, scarred physique of a professional athlete, strength rippling out from every inch of him. His jet-black hair was in sheer contrast to his son’s sandy locks – moreso, though, the man had a churlish attitude and a loud, derisive voice that could be heard for streets around.

“You don’t have it?” Sora asked, face falling. “It’s really good. Salty, but sweet!”

“Sora, I know you been away on exchange or somethin’,” the man growled, “but I don’t think I’m keen for no sea-salt ice cream.” He turned to face Kairi, giving her a warm smile. “What about you, darl?” he asked. “Mango, like usual?”

This question, it turned out, was the last condition required for a revolutionary idea to catalyse itself in Kairi’s mind. As if panning across the tableau of the moment, Kairi’s mind swerved from Sora’s indecision, to the yawning chasm of longing squeezing at her chest, to the open offer of the man. All three intersected at a single idea, an ultimatum for her oblivious love that would force his hand without confrontation.

“Hmm…” she postured out loud. “Actually, I think I might try paopu flavour tonight.”

Sora jolted around to face her, wild panic in his eyes and fervent blush filling in the corners of his face. “But that’s…”

“Oh-ho!” The shopkeep chortled, “Good choice. Most people don’t have the guts. You’re the first one since I squeezed a fresh fruit this morning.” He reached into the cooled interior of his little stall and pulled out a bar of ice cream on a stick, vibrant yellow in colour, handing it over to the girl.

“But… Kairi…”

“Mm?”

Sora swallowed suddenly, diverting his eyes. “What about…”

The proprietor suddenly laughed as Sora stammered over his words. “Look, kiddo. That’s adorable, but I’m not sure the legend really had ice cream in mind,” he guffawed, before leaning in so that he was at eye-level with the boy. “Still, gotta ask yourself… do you wanna take the risk?”

Kairi blinked deliberately as she took the first bite of her bar, tasting cold cream as the sweet wilted between her lips. Sora flinched as she did so, and then began fumbling and digging into his baggy pockets for munny.

“I-I-I’ll take paopu flavour too!” He blurted out in a flustered rush, slamming far too much onto the table.

Retreating to a quiet bench that overlooked the ocean near Kairi’s home, the two ate in near-silence. The taste of the paopu treat was strange; it defied easy categorisation, but felt oddly rewarding in its aftertaste, and so the noises of wet consumption roiled in time to the waves.

“It’s not so bad, huh?” Kairi asked, looking away from her confectionary. “It’s not too sweet.”

“Yeah,” Sora sighed. “It’s different. It’s like… bitter, but sweet.”

“Yeah! Like when it starts raining after you finish watering the plants.”

“Like being home.”

The girl felt her heart sink as Sora let the words out. “Is that how you feel, Sora?”

“N-no!” Sora suddenly stammered, catching himself. “I’m really happy to be home. I’m just…”

“Sora, we talked about this…”

“I know!” Sora apologised, turning to face her. “And you really helped, honest!”

“Then why can’t you smile?” Kairi asked, slight annoyance creeping into her tone. “Why can’t you admit that… never mind.”

“Kairi,” Sora insisted, “There are… so many reasons I’m happy to be home!” His tone was pleading. “There are so many things I want to say to you –”

“Then start saying them,” she begged, eyes intense with passion. “I’m here. After all this time, I’m right here.”

“But,” Sora said, flustered, trying to avert the woman’s gaze. “I want to say them when I don’t have to worry anymore. When no-one needs me.”

“Sora, please…” Kairi’s face was crumpled with sadness. “I need you.”

Guilt blossomed in Sora’s heart, spreading outwards from his core in thick, poisonous rivers that froze him in place. He looked at her. She was hunched over with anguish, eyes squeezed shut, lip trembling. Her hands were clasped over her heart, vermillion strands of smooth hair still vibrant in the closing moments of dusk. Feeling the way clear in his heart, Sora could only focus on how, even in her state of profound upset, she was still so astoundingly beautiful.

“Kairi.” Sora whispered, reaching out with one brave hand and running through her crimson locks, finger brushing gently past her ear. She looked up at him hopefully. “I do want to be here with you, for as long as I can,” he promised, face now only inches from hers. “Kairi, I – I love you so much.”

The Princess of Heart sniffed back a tear. “I’ve… I’ve waited years to hear you say that.”

“It took me too long to say them,” Sora lamented. “I’m sorr–”

He was cut short by Kairi, who claimed the final moment of sunset, its last light in her eyes as she closed them and leaned in, clasping lips with Sora. All silence reigned as the two, lovers made anew, shared in each other’s love. Kairi’s arms gripped Sora tightly by his torso, afraid to let go; his rested on her shoulders, hands cradling threads of scarlet and the soft skin of her neck. They remained like this for some seconds, lips edging closer and further in time to the rhythm of their bodies, hearts alive with joy. When at last they parted, Kairi, unable to stop herself, planted a second smaller kiss on the boy’s nose. He squeezed his eyes shut as he she did, dislodging tears of relief and love from his eyes. The two smiled and laughed, the soft sounds tinkling in the air of the new night.

“I love you too, Sora,” Kairi reassured him. “I always have.”

His fingers went briefly to his lips, cheeks pink as he cherished the sensation and the touch of the kiss he had just shared, committing it to the array of happy memories within. “That was…” Sora started awkwardly, “That was so lovely, Kairi…”

Kairi nodded happily, giggling. “I think so, too. Worth waiting for.”

Sora gave a wry smile. “I still think I should’ve kissed you earlier.”

Kairi pouted. “Sora,” she groaned, “can’t you just enjoy the moment?”

The brunet tried to laugh it off. “I’m just so happy… I mean,” he chuckled awkwardly. “That was so wonderful, and this time last year you’d probably forgotten all about me.”

Suddenly the woman went quiet, her face falling. “That – that wasn’t my fault.”

“N-no, of course not!” Sora hastily said. “I know you did everything you could to remember me!”

The redhead’s balled fist firmly tapped his chest as she frowned at him. “Don’t remind me!” she hissed. “I’ve never felt worse than when I couldn’t remember you…”

“K-Kairi,” Sora spoke fast, trying desperately to recover the moment. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to bring it up! I knew you… I know you wouldn’t forget me.”

“I missed you so much… But I couldn’t…”

“Kairi, it’s okay. Nothing like that could change how I feel about you.”

“Hmph!”

“Kairi, I’m serious!” Sora blurted out, his eyes never leaving hers as her petulant, scrunched features examined him. “I never came back to you, like I promised! I felt awful about it.”

Now it was the woman’s turn to ask. “And did you think about me?”

He nodded eagerly, seeing the flash of affection re-enter her visage. “You know I missed you too,” he promised. “I thought of you all the time!”

“You mean it?”

“Yeah.”

“Then show me!”

“…Huh?”

Kairi was so close now, lips close to his, eyes caught in a flux of heat: burning with challenge, but also melting with anticipation. “Show me,” she whispered invitingly. “What did you do when you thought of me?”

The pounding of Sora’s heart increased, his head light as his mind wandered to what Kairi was alluding to.

“I don’t just want to love you, Sora,” she whined, her breath coming in shudders. “I want you.”

“Kairi…” Sora gasped, as his quivering hands took hers, both of them trembling with the terrible fragility of their awkward approach. Their faces drifted towards one another, eyes opened and fixed on their affection as the velvet skin of their lips touched, drawing delight from the contact. Single, vulnerable tears fell in delicate trails from both of them, crying in relief and release as their fingers intertwined with one another, soft skin sensitive to touch but unwilling to let go. On the ground beside them, the cold, long-discarded remnants of their ice-cream melted away into the sand.

Breaking the contact and summoning her courage, Kairi’s lips pulled away from Sora’s as she stepped back, holding onto his hands and walking away from him, beckoning him to follow with the tight grip of his fingers in hers. Sora obeyed, entranced, led seemingly by the tips of his toes as his entire form pleaded – no, begged him to shadow the woman. He had been lost for words when he had first seen her at the end of his journey – blossomed, full, and grown to beauteous perfection in his eyes. Even now she was all his eyes cared to see, houses and streets blurring out of his vision as she remained at the centre of their frame, smiling and heavy with wanting.

Giving his hands a reassuring squeeze, she pivoted on her heel to direct them into the entrance of her home, and for a moment Sora could only fixate on her back and shoulders as she opened the way for them. The way soft, smooth edges of her pink mini-dress hugged the subtle curve of her form and gave way to skin; impossibly inviting to him as it seemed to glow in the paleness of early evening. Then, with a flutter of those scarlet locks which now contained to him all the meaning in the world, her face was back, happy and warm, as she led him into her home.

No-one was home, this much was clear. The lights were all off and the obvious signs abandoned; coatrack, vanity and counter bereft of anything indicating life. Their shoes were hastily discarded in a hurry by the door. The fireplace, last night so very alive, now lay disused in state of dusty dimness as they passed it without thought, the redhead guiding Sora step by painful step towards the safety and solitude of her bedroom. As they entered the intimate space and Kairi closed the door behind them, Sora’s pulse quickened with the realisation of what was happening, skin tingling and nerves flared with intense desire.

Dancing around him, Kairi once more caught his lips in embrace as she directed him onto her bed, her desire driving the motion as the brunet, for the moment, subjected herself to her whim as she kissed him. He felt the soft fabric of her cream-coloured bedding beneath his bare knees. The girl was before him now, perched on her own knees as she broke the contact and glanced at him – becoming aware that the boy was now suddenly quite nervous at the prospect of fulfilling the woman’s earlier request.

“Are you comfortable with doing this?” Kairi asked, feeling the boy flinch as her fingers dusted over his thigh. “We can stop, if you want…”

“No, I – I’ll do it,” Sora panted between nervous gulps of air, sliding his jacket off his shoulders. “Just… why waste time on me?”

“Because,” she breathed, planting a patient kiss on his cheek, “your pleasure is my pleasure.”

Taking a deep breath to stabilise himself, Sora’s fingers deftly began to work the belt buckle at his waist. Pulling the stud free of its loop and feeling the thing undo, the opposite ends of the band were now painfully open. The undoing of the belt also loosened the yellow straps which crisscrossed Sora’s front, the twin strips falling away. As he placed his hands at the topmost clasp of his pants he was suddenly aware of Kairi’s hands, warm and filled with trepidation, hovering at the hem of his undershirt.

“May I?” she asked in a rush of hot breath.

The boy nodded, and the slightest moan of delight escaped his lips as Kairi began to lift the fabric with agonising slowness. Sora was not alone in his obvious arousal; Kairi’s breaths came in heaving embarrassment as she regarded the soft definition of Sora’s torso. The chest she had internalised as soft, smooth to the point of uniform, was instead a lean topography of subtle dips and rises which created a latticework of the body. His body, she realised, was not like Riku’s, where hardship had developed a body with little room for gentleness; nor was he like the Sora who had left the Islands over a year ago, whose innocence had been both strength and detriment. The boy’s chitter of surprised pleasure as her fingers bushed over his delicate lines of muscle brought fresh waves of longing out of Kairi, and so she encouraged him as he began to peel away the fabric of his trousers.

His hips and legs were a soft white in the onset of moonlight, and at the sight of them Kairi felt her hunger grow. She could not resist watching his hips as they swayed nervously, and the inviting bulge of his groin as his fingers now deliberated nervously upon the elastic waistband of his briefs.

“It’s okay,” Kairi cooed. “You’re beautiful, Sora.”

Slipping the black briefs down his hips and onto his thighs, Sora’s erect member now was exposed, and his hands went to it in a jumble of fingers. Kairi watched the movement play out; at first it was embarrassment, scared of offending his partner with its presence. However, she could see him beginning to overcome his trepidation, as he watched Kairi’s clear arousal at his partial nakedness grow into wanting. His fingers closed around his shaft, a delicate movement that caused Sora to squeeze his eyes shut as he completed it – Kairi could only imagine Sora secluding himself away in whatever privacy he could find on his journey, assuming this very position, and pleasuring himself to the thought of her. The idea made her fingers move before she could stop them.

He had begun to stroke delicately back and forth, fingers sliding from soft tufts of brown hair at the base to the slickened bulb at the tip, hand running with thin trails of precum. He opened his eyes to fixate on Kairi once again, and gasped at the sight of her.

One hand was cupped around a breast, the silver zipper running the length of her torso unfastened down to her stomach. She drew sharp breath as her hand lay pressure into skin through the thin white camisole around her prow. Her other hand had descended between her thighs, and Sora could only feel his arousal intensify as he caught of her fingers softly stroking and rubbing herself through cotton, these opening movements only intensifying her pleasure. Her face was as red as her hair, and as their eyes locked, both of their expressions flooded with relief that each reciprocated the heady attraction of the other.

“Are… are you sure?” Sora asked her, between moans.

She nodded gratefully. “Yes! I’ve – I’ve just missed you!”

Sora began to focus on the details of Kairi, old and new, that he loved as he worked his shaft. His eyes went invariably to her breasts as she now applied pressure to the firm tip that made itself known through the cloth around her chest. He throbbed between his own fingers as his eyes drifted downward, a gasp of unexpected intensity escaping him. He twitched when her fingers moved, imagining her slender and graceful touch.

Kairi gazed at Sora through half-lidded eyes, biting her full lips, his oddities and mannerisms sending waves of pleasure rippling through herself. Even through cloth she could feel her nails brushing against her nipple, simultaneously building and draining the pressure building in her loins. Without intending to, the boy spread his thighs slightly wider, her view bettering – and her fingers left teasing behind, slipping into her panties to run her fingers along her entrance in short, demanded waves of delight. Feeling that last layer of thin, gauzy fabric become heavy with the wetness of her movements, Kairi hurriedly forced down her underwear down her thighs with a sense of urgency and returned her hands to their work.

As he watched her intensify, Sora settled on the idea that his movement was giving her pleasure, and thus decided to lower his tempo – swapping the intensity he had building towards and instead unclasping his fingers, brushing his fingers delicately against himself. He bit back the sudden loss of sensation, and a shiver went down his spine as the waves of electric ecstasy returned to delicate twinges – but he accepted it, as Kairi now watched him with delirious pleasure, fingers tracing delicate shapes across the yet more delicate folds. She focused on a particular spot that had her openly moaning, the slippery friction of skin mingling with skin coming to a head as her hips began to buck and shudder in time to the ripples that roared through her. Kairi longingly watched her love with wild-eyed pleasure, every inch of her desire within her as the silence between gasps and moans decreased ever more.

Sora had almost halted now, enchanted by her open-mouthed pleasure as her white fingers, nearly dripping with fluid, worked in and around the delicate skin which, at this moment, was her centre. Her heart pounded and she felt herself approach the apex of her pleasure – thinking of Sora, in his most vulnerable moments and compounding the image with the miraculous reality in front her, Kairi bit her lip and came with a sharp, sudden yelp which surprised even her with its intensity. All the rolling thunder of her pleasure exploded within her, spreading the warmth of satisfaction all throughout the girl’s heart.

Panting and heaving, Kairi looked up her partner – Sora had stopped, shaft still held in his hand, watching her with a gaze somewhere between sheer awe and complete curiosity. He winced as Kairi reached down again and ran a finger across her entrance.

“Kairi,” he breathed, his tone cautious. “You don’t have to… doesn’t it hurt?”

“I-it doesn’t hurt,” Kairi answered, suddenly embarrassed as she felt his eyes examining her motions. “Besides, didn’t you… also?”

Now it was Sora who flushed red and turned away. “N-no,” he admitted.

Kairi suddenly felt concern blossom in her chest. “Oh, Sora, did I g-go too fast? I’m sorry…”

“Th-that’s not it!” The boy stammered, eager to correct her. “I just know that… I only get one go at it… I thought it was the same with you,” he looked back up at her, smiling happily. “I wanted it to be the best it possibly could be for you – _aahnn_ …” Sora suddenly moaned and twitched as, unexpectedly, Kairi reached over and wrapped her fingers, alongside his, around his firm member.

“Ah,” she gasped, realising she was getting ahead of herself. “Was that okay? Did I –”

“It’s fine,” Sora gasped, breath light and head airy at her touch. “I just… I can’t believe this is happening…”

 Kairi leaned over, advancing on Sora and pushing him back with a slow, inviting crawl. She slowly manoeuvred him into a comfortable position, feeling him both tremble at and sink into her touch. He – like her – trusted the other completely, and yet quivered with the vulnerability that something, anything might break the fragile string of intimacy now suspended between them. With Sora now reclined onto her cushions, Kairi decided to direct the movement. She craned herself above him, stroking him lightly as she shrugged off her pink minidress, then straddled his legs, positioning herself at his tip.

“Kairi,” Sora said, heart pounding with readiness. “Are you sure? You want m-me?”

“Sora…” she replied, dislodging grateful tears of relief with a blink. “I… I want nothing else.”

“O-okay,” the young man said gratefully, nodding as his eyes and smile melted into pure, undiluted love. “I’m r-ready when you are.”

Twin gasps of seething pleasure snaked their way through the air as Kairi guided Sora’s length into her, feeling his body twitch beneath her as he entered. Both began to tentatively roll their hips into the motion, feeling every elongated pull and shudder of pleasured muscle converge into their contact. Their motion was the shore. Their affection crashed onto each other, waves taking the form of glances full of fulfilled desire, and breath shaking in delirious ecstasy, and hands needily touching whatever they could. She would guide one of his hands to her breast, she would coil delicate fingers into rich tufts of brunet hair, all the while the motion continued and their moans, rich with sentiment and sex, wrapped around the congress in waves of inexperienced pleasure.

They were a mess of heat and hands, Kairi learning the body of the boy beneath her as he bucked and spasmed with unexpected shakings of pleasure, and Sora coming to understand her body through its needs and its givings as their motions worked in tandem to create a seamless symphony of love and lust, their attraction for each other only driving the intensity of their motion. Kairi began to speed up, her hips moving upon Sora’s member with measured intensity – he yelped beneath her as she did, unexpected pleasure claiming him as she leaned down to kiss him. Their lips clashed once again, beautifully filling with the air with joyous sounds of catharsis as the two also entwined their fingers into each other’s hands in a show of trust and promise. A writhing crept into the couple’s movements as they felt themselves approaching the edge, their arousal threatening to overwork their young hearts with the force of its adoration.

Their lips were the first of the three points of contact to break as Kairi’s lips left Sora’s to cry out with pleasure – her hips jerked and quivered as she came again, her muscles tightening in a magnificent spasm as every drop of happiness and pleasure her body could muster blossomed out from her loins to her core. Then, driven to his own ecstasy by the pleasure of his love, Sora now ejaculated with an overwhelmed yelp as his heartrate spiked and his entire body converged on the movement of his hips. He squeezed Kairi’s hand, seeking its reassurance as his senses were swallowed by the moment of release. Kairi felt the warmth of his release through her, but did not worry; she knew that this act of love would only affect her when she wanted it to. Kissing her again, Sora withdrew from Kairi, and together the two wrapped their arms around one another and cuddled each other close as they lay side by side, still flushed with the effort of their intimacy.

“Kairi, I…” Sora panted, flashing an exhausted smile. “That was everything I’ve ever wanted.”

Positioning them both under the covers, the woman snuggled closer to him, wrapping an arm around his dishevelled locks and pulling his head into the crook of her neck. “I know,” Kairi cooed, stroking the brown locks. “It was everything I’ve ever wanted, too.”

For a time, there was all but silence in the room. The two teens, laying in their naked vulnerability together, heaved and panted as heartrates slowed and adrenaline faded, leaving them with sore, reddened flesh – but hearts full of love. Their breathing synchronised with the sound of the waves, ever present in the distance of their sanctuary, reminding them that this was real; that as long as they could see one another, they were home.

Eventually, the exacting demands of the flesh took their toll, and eyelids began to droop. Sora’s was the first to fall, the boy soft-faced in his bliss. Kairi, only precious seconds behind, used her final waking moments to kiss him once more on his forehead, prompting a low murmur of appreciation.

“…Kairi…?”

“Mm?”

“I love you…”

Unable to help smiling at this final proclamation, Kairi nuzzled herself into her Sora, and resigned herself to sleep.

\--

There was a hiss of escaping steam as the steel walkway of the Gummi Ship began to lower, the mechanism within swirling up to speed as it worked pistons and pulleys to have the ramp descend.

“Thanks, you two!” Riku chimed to the two dutiful chipmunks who had flown him back home, casting a salute as he hefted his bag over his shoulder. “We’ll come see everyone again soon.”

“Yes sir, mister Riku!” Chip squeaked with gusto, as he and Dale returned the salute. “Stay safe!”

Riku nodded, giving a final farewell as he began to descend the ramp. He could already see the welcoming sands of home awaiting, the hues of yellow, and green, and blue greeting him in vivid splashes of colour. Clearing the metal floor of the Gummi Ship, the Islands made themselves known to him in greater detail – and there, sure enough, were Sora and Kairi, waiting for him also.

Something was different, though.

Riku examined them as he neared the end of the ramp. They were holding – no, they clung to each other tightly, eyes never leaving him but also never truly leaving each other, every sign in the language of their bodies clearly spelling togetherness. Their smiles were serene, dual pairs of azure that beckoned to him with their kindness and warmth, and their hands – intertwined and inseperable – still seemed so open and full of offering.

“Welcome back, Riku,” Sora all but sang, beaming his ebullient grin.

“We missed you!” Kairi added, completing the image with her own radiant expression of joy.

_We,_ Riku thought. _It says it all._

Riku’s bag hit the sand with a hollow thud, and he stepped towards them with both arms outstretched. They only watched, bemused, as Riku advanced – then squeaked with surprise and delight as he closed his powerful forelimbs around the pair and squeezed tight.

“It took you two long enough!” he chided, laughing over their chirruping protests.

“Riku!”

“Riku, let go!”

Closing his eyes, Riku permitted himself the sanctuary of his home. “I’m proud of you two, though. Both of you. Hold on tight!”

He endured further squawks from the young couple as he scooped them up, one under each mighty arm, and began to walk, carrying them with him towards bliss. “Who’s paying for lunch?” he demanded of the lovers. “Because it’s certainly not me.”

Above the Destiny Islands, another wayward star shot its way through the sky. But this time, no eyes filled with sorrowful reflection took pause to watch it, and no lost soul sought comfort in its promise of the great beyond.

Because they did not need to.

Home had everything they needed.


End file.
